Bainsla wants Central Government's intervention on Gujjar issue

Jaipur, May 27 : Gujjar leader Colonel Kirori Singh Bainsla is in no mood to relent and has asked the Central Government to consider the community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, adding he would not settle for anything less than that.

"The Centre should examine our demand. The agitation will go on. What the Gujjars want is ST status notified under Section 342 of the Constitution ," Bainsla said.

Bainsla who is in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan said "I have stated it before and I state it again that the letter of the C M Vasundhara Raje to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is a total farce, as it does not refer to the issue of ST status, but reportedly mentions something about nomadic tribes."

On Monday, Raje had recommended four to six per cent reservation for Gujjars in the category of denotified class of tribals/nomadic tribes, according to Rajasthan Parliamentary Affairs Minister R S Rathore.

Gujjars could also be considered as economically poorer than the OBCs, the Minister said quoting the letter.

On the contempt notice issued by Rajasthan High Court ordering him to appear before it on 30th May, Bainsla said "if conditions permit then I will definitely go to the Court and put forward my side".

When asked what would happen if the Centre and the Rajasthan Government failed to budge from their stance on the issue , he said that the agitation would continue till the end , and added there was no going back on the ST demand status.

ANI